Straightening machine



G. W. RUSELL STRAIGHTENING MACHINE Filed OCL 22. i925 3 Sheets-Sheer 2 INVENT G. W., @Um

STRAIGHTENING MACHINE Patented J. 1, 1929.

YNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W. RUSSELL, F WARREN, OHIO, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS, TO THE AETNA-STANDARD ENGINEERING COMPANY, 0F WARREN, OHIO, A CORPORATION STRAIGHTENING MACHINE.

Application led October 22, 1925. Serial No. 64,071.

rl`his invention relates to straightening machines, and particularly to the arrangement of the gearing therein so that adjust-- ments of the machine may -be made without disturbing the gear connections and causing faulty operation of the machine.

Sheet straightening machines of the roll type as heretofore made have comprised an upper and a lower set of rolls, one of these sets bein adjustable with respect to the other, and all of the rolls being driven. In some machines the rolls are driven through wobblers or universal couplings, ybut this construction does not stand up under heavy l5 work and is quite expensive. In other forms of straightenin machines the gears of the upper set of rol s have been connected to the lower set, but upon adjustment of the upper "set of rolls away from the lower set the M back lash of the gears frequently becomes so great that the sheets are marked. It has also been proposed to drive the lower rolls and to operate the upper rolls frictionally, but these machines have not proved satisfactory. It has .also been attem ted to use a chain drive between the end ro lers of the upper set and the opposite end rollers of the lower set. The chain, however, allows back lash and is no better than the ordinary gear 30 connected machine. .v

I provide a driving gear which is substantially stationary .and a meshing gear which is movable with the adjusting rolls and arranged to drive the same, the line connecting 35, the centers of the driving gear and the meshing gear 'being substantially perpendicular .to the direction of adjustment. By reason of this arrangement the center to center distance of the gears is practically unchanged g upon adjustment of the rolls and consequently 'there is no excessive back lash at any time. The machine, therefore, operatesk smoothly for all adjustments and the tendency to mark the sheets is done away with.

ing one vembodiment: of the invention- Figure 1- is an end elevation of a gear straightening machine embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a top plan view of the machine;

Figure 3 is a side elevation, and

' In the accompanying drawings, illustrat" Figure 4 is a section on the line IV-IV of Figure 1.

In the illustrated embodiment of the invention, there is shown a straightening machine comprising a lower roll frame, indicated generally by the reference character 2, and carrying straightening rolls 3, and an upper frame, indicated generally by the ref* erencecharacter 4.-, and carrying upper` straightening rolls 5.

The upper frame 4 is adjustable relative to the lower frame 2. Hand wheels 6 are provided for making such adjustment. These hand wheels are mounted onshafts 7 having worms 8 engaging worm wheels 9. The worm wheels 9 are keyed to screw shafts 10 which are threaded into nuts 11 in the. upper frame 4. Springs 12 tend to hold the frames apart,but the a justment of the hand wheels 6 provides positiver means for adjusting the upper frame relative to the4 ower frame and preventing spreading thereof lduring operation of the machine.

-A separate hand wheel 6 is provided at either end of the machine so that the upper frame can be tilted relative to the lower frame, as indicated in Fi ure 3. This arrangement makes it possib e to set the rolls as shown in the drawings so that the sheet is deflected orcorrugated transversely to its line of movement, thus breaking up any permanent bends in the sheet and straightening it. The rolls at the delivery end are spaced further apart and serve to deliver the sheet flat. In the machine shown there are eight lower rolls and nine upper rolls, and lthese are connected in sets by gears 13, all of which are mounted in housings 14 at one end of the machine. 4

The driving mechanism is at the opposite endy of the machine from the gears 13. Power is supplied by a motor 15 mounted on a bracket 16 and connected to a jack shaft 17 through gearing 18. The jack shaft is carried in bearings 19 mounted on the bracket 16 and has keyed thereto an overhanging f pinion 20, The pinion 20 meshes with a @gear 21, which in turn meshes with gears 22. The ears 22 are connected to rollers 3 in the ower set and drive the connected sets of lower rolls at either end of the machine. The

middle set of lower rolls is driven from the lil@ ' doing von a 35 gear 21 through a shaft 28 which is connected to one of the gears 13. The gears 21 and 22 are fixed relative to the pinion 2O and an adjustment of the machine does not disturb the connections. v

The upper set of rolls is driven through av gear 24 which meshes with thepinion 20. Referring particularly'to Figure 4, it will be seen that a straight line connecting the centers of the pinion 20 and gear 24 is practically horizontal, that is to say, it is substantially perpendicular to the direction of adjustment of the upper frame 4. Both the pinion 2O and the gear 24 are made considerably wider than the adjacent gears so that they can mesh with one another without interference. This is clearly shown in Figure 2 of the drawings. rihe gear 24 is connected to one of the rolls in the rolls so that all of them are driven through the gears 13 in this articular set. The two sets of upper rolls ying at the end ofthe machine are driven through gears 25 which mesh with the gear 24 and are mounted on shafts 26, these shafts carrying one of the gears 13 1n the end sets.

lAn adjustment of the upper framewith respect to the lower frame will not -materially alter the center to center distance of the pinion 20 and the gear 24 because of their position relative to one another with respect to the directionv of adjustment. The away of the spreadin of the gears ustment of the upperv rame prevents back lash and does away with the marking of the sheets which frequently occurred with machines of the old type. Also, the life of the machine is materiallyincreased since the gears operate in the way they are designed to work and never have to carry the load on the tips of the teeth as is frequently necessary in the old st le machines.,

While I have shown and described a preferred embodiment of my invention, it will be understood that I am not limited to its preferred embodiment, as the invention may -be otherwise embodied within the` scope of the following claims.

middle set of upper I claim:

.1. A sheet strai p rismg an adjustab direction of travel machine, straightening means mounted on the frame and adjustable therewith, a gear mounted on the frame and adapted to drive the straightening means, a substantially stationary driving gear meshing with the first mentioned gear, and independent adjusting means at each end of the frame for adjusting its position, the gears being between the adjusting means and having their centers located in a line generally perpendicular to the direction of adjustment, whereby the spreading of the gears is substantially a minimum for any adjustment of the frame, substantially as described.

2. A sheet straightening machine comprising a pair of relatively movable frames, a plurality of rolls in each frame, gearing for each frame connecting the rolls thereof together, and a gear on one frame making a driving connection with a gear on the other frame, the line connecting the centers of said gears being at an angle approaching a right angle to the direction of relative movement of the frames, scribed.

3, A sheet straightening machine comprising a pair of relatively movable frames, means arranged adjacent the ',ends of the frames for effecting adjustment thereof, a

htening machine, come frame extending in the plurality of rolls in one of said frames, gearing carried by said frame connecting the rolls thereof together, and a gear on the other frame and making a driving connectionk with a gear on the first mentioned frame, the line connecting the centers' of said gears being at an angle approaching a right angle to the direct-ion of relative movement of the frames, the oint of engagement of said gears l ing intermediate the ends of the frame, su stantially asdescribed.

substantially as demounted of the sheet through the In testimony whereof I have hereunto set h d. A my an `RUSSELL. 

